Bitten by Love

Bitten by LoveLara BronsonTacit Press, LLC Contents Title PageRecapChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8Chapter 9Chapter 10Chapter 11Chapter 12Chapter 13Chapter 14Chapter 15Chapter 16Chapter 17Chapter 18Chapter 19Chapter 20Chapter 21Chapter 22Chapter 23Chapter 24Chapter 25Chapter 26Chapter 27Chapter 28Chapter 29GlossaryAfterwordAbout The AuthorThe Vampire Genesis Chronicles RecapThe meeting with Muma Pădurii leads Petra and Gabriel on a new journey through the Forest of Celestial Rites.First, they meet Solomonarul, who helps them find Tiberiu, the werewolf pack leader. Once they meet, he tells them about the moon eclipse ritual, which will secure the Eye of the Dragon stone's powers. Except they must retrieve a feather from Zburătorul and convince the nymphs to dance that night.Difficult tasks away them, but with the help of their friends, they succeed in their quests and aid in forging a new love story between Solomonarul and Teodora.Except when Petra is kidnapped by Turkish mercenaries, she realizes a larger evil is out to get her. And the only way to escape it is by traveling with Gabriel back in the future. While all the paranormal beings are preoccupied with the proceedings during the eclipse ritual, a mob of strigoi attacks them.Petra and Gabriel prepare to get to the castle and time travel when Gabriel's brother is attacked by the undead creatures. Torn between helping or leaving, Gabriel chooses to aid his brother and asks Petra to leave first.Once at the castle, forced to say the spell, Petra already feels her body transcending. While this happens, she hears Gabriel's voice and tries to grab his hand. Unfortunately, they cannot connect, and he remains in the past while she enters the time continuum.After reaching her present, to Petra’s surprise, someone is waiting for her. Someone closely resembling Gabriel. Chapter 1"Welcome back, Milady,” the doppelgänger said with a suave accent. I didn’t have time to recover from the shock when he took my hand and pulled me up too fast for my weakened state. My knees buckled, and I crashed into his chest. He smelled of cedar wood, expensive soaps, and a light whiff of frankincense. It took me a second to recover from my olfactory overload. The outline of his chest felt familiar, but, at the same time, it didn’t feel exactly like Gabriel’s body, just as I remembered not several hours ago. “Are you okay, Milady?” he asked, displaying the same playful smile I remembered. “Did you miss me already? You have been in my embrace not too long ago. If you already feel such anguish, how should I react when I waited to see your sweet face and supple mouth for five hundred years.” He cupped my chin and caressed my lips with his thumb. The impostor still wore the wedding ring on his finger. Startled, I pushed him away. “That is not possible. You cannot be Gabriel,” I said fretfully. “And what made you reach such a conclusion, Milady?” asked the doppelgänger with open arms as he walked closer. “Was it my improved style compared to my medieval counterpart or that I am half a millennium old?” I tried to utter something, anything, but my vocal cords decided to bail on me. I could hardly blame them. He stepped closer, took my hand in his, and kissed it. All the while, he maintained eye contact. “If only you knew how many times I dreamed of this very moment. Alas, I expected such a reaction, so I came prepared.” The Gabriel impersonator shoved his arm into his perfectly steamed trousers and pulled out a handkerchief. The handkerchief with our initials I made for him in Wallachia. “I also have your phone, pocketknife, and white bag, but unfortunately, the latter has seen better days, and I had it framed in glass.” I completely forgot I had left my bag back in the past. There was no way this man could be anyone else except Gabriel. “But how did this happen?” “Ah, now that is a question that must be answered at dinner,” he said, grabbing my hand. “You must be famished. Let’s go. I made a reservation for a nice restaurant close by.” “You made a reservation? Restaurant?” I asked, dumbfounded. Was I finally going to eat something else besides cheese and bread? This was not the time to think about food, Petra. I made a few steps and accidentally knocked something. When I looked, I saw the water bottle I had left before traveling. What was it doing here? I rushed to grab it. It didn’t look tarnished, broken, or anything. “How much time did it pass since I left and returned?” I asked. “Well,” Gabriel said, looking at his very expensive watch, “from the moment you traveled and returned, it’s been about twenty-four hours.” “What?” I interjected. I worried so much about my parents thinking I had been gone missing for two years, and they just had their morning coffee. Time really did a number on me. “But how is that possible? Wouldn’t time work the same no matter what year?” “The present takes longer to permeate the cloth of time. But once it’s embedded in history, it resembles more like a slope. In other words, it takes a long time for history to happen and much less to relive it.” “I remember the seer saying something similar. So, you’re saying one cannot travel into the future?” I asked.“What is a future but a perpetual present?” he said as he glanced and smiled radiantly at me. Several tourists turned to us after hearing our talk. “It is best to continue our discussion in a more private place. Come. My car is parked next to the palace.” I ran to take my warmed-up water bottle and returned to grab his hand. We walked through the gates and out into the sidewalk. Suddenly, I was hit by the culture shock of modern times. The smell of hot tar from the nearby repairers fixing the road, the honks of passing cars, and the rapid pace of life overwhelmed my senses. Without even